THE Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Modernization Act, RA 7898, was enacted on February 23, 1995, during the administration of President Fidel V. Ramos, with a budget of R50 billion for 15 years. Funding was halted in the wake of the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and succeeding administrations neglected the program until it expired in 2010.

Here in the Philippines, it is called State of the Nation Address or SONA for short. In the US, it is State of the Union. In Great Britain, it is called Speech from the Throne or The Queen’s (of King’s) Speech. It is Prinsjesdag in the Netherlands. There is no equivalent name in Japan but the speech, likewise, is delivered during the first session of Parliament.